Fan structure

ABSTRACT

A fan structure includes a bearing and an impeller, wherein the bearing comprises a plurality of first lodge portions, and the impeller comprises a hub and a plurality of blades. The hub comprises a plurality of second lodge portions. The first lodge portions are cladded with the second lodge portions by means of injection molding.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is generally related to a fan structure, which particularly relates to the fan structure with simplified manufacturing process.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As illustrated in FIG. 7, a conventional fan structure 10 includes a frame body 11, a tube 12, a bearing 13, a stator 14, a rotating shaft 15 and an impeller 16. The tube 12 couples to the frame body 11, the bearing 13 is disposed at the tube 12, the stator 14 couples to the tube 12, and the rotating shaft 15 is penetrated through the bearing 13. The impeller 16 comprises a plurality of blades 16 a and a hub 16 b coupled to the rotating shaft 15. In this case, the tube 12, the bearing 13, the stator 14, the rotating shaft 15 and the impeller 16 must be installed within the frame body 11 in sequence during the installation process of the fan structure 10. Furthermore, the hub 16 b of the impeller 16 is coupled to the rotating shaft 15. Therefore, the installation procedure is relatively complex and time consuming.

SUMMARY

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a fan structure including a preformed bearing and an impeller, wherein the preformed bearing comprises a plurality of first lodge portions and an axial hole, and the impeller comprises a hub and a plurality of blades in connection with the hub. The hub comprises a plurality of second lodge portions. The first lodge portions are cladded with the second lodge portions by means of injection molding.

The hub enables to fixedly couple to the bearing via the second lodge portion after molding process owning to the reason that the bearing is cladded with the impeller by injection molding. Therefore, a coupling means for compressing the bearing against the hub can be ignored to simplify the installation procedure between the impeller and the bearing. Besides, this invention prevents the axial hole of the bearing from deformation.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded diagram illustrating a fan structure in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial enlargement view illustrating a fan structure in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial section view illustrating a fan structure in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is another partial section view illustrating fan structure with a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a development drawing illustrating a bearing in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-section view illustrating a fan structure in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-section diagram illustrating a conventional fan structure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a fan structure 100 in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention includes a hollow body 110, a fixing pillar 120, a stator 130, a bearing 140, an impeller 150, a circuit board 160 and a carrier 170. The hollow body 110 comprises a bottom plate 111 and a ring wall 112 disposed on the bottom plate 111, wherein the circuit board 160 is disposed around the ring wall 112 of the hollow body 110 and is disposed on the carrier 170. The fixing pillar 120 penetrated through an axial hole 142 of the bearing 140 comprises a first end 121 and a second end 122, and the first end 121 is fixed at the bottom plate 111 of the hollow body 110. The stator 130 is installed at the ring wall 112 and electrically connects with the circuit board 160. The bearing 140 is a preformed bearing. In this embodiment, the bearing 140 is made of plastic, the bearing 140 comprises a plurality of first lodge portions 141, a top terminal 143, a bottom terminal 144 and a contact portion 147 extendedly formed at the bottom terminal 144, wherein the first lodge portions 141 are adjacent to the top terminal 143, and the second end 122 of the fixing pillar 120 is protruded to the top terminal 143 of the bearing 140. In this embodiment, the contact portion 147 can be a ring-shaped protrusion to make the bearing 140 in contact with the bottom plate 111 via the contact portion 147 so that the friction force between the bearing 140 and the bottom plate 111 can be effectively reduced. With reference to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the first lodge portions 141 include a plurality of first coupling protrusions 141 a and a plurality of second coupling protrusions 141 b, wherein the first coupling protrusions 141 a and the second coupling protrusions 141 b are arranged alternately, each of the first coupling protrusions 141 a and each of the second coupling protrusions 141 b are spaced apart to form a separation slot 141 h. The impeller 150 comprises a hub 151 and a plurality of blades 152 in connection with the hub 151, the hub 151 comprises a plurality of second lodge portions 151 a, and the first lodge portions 141 are cladded with the second lodge portions 151 a by means of injection molding.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4 again, in this embodiment, each of the first coupling protrusions 141 a comprises a first coupling slot 141 c and a first projection 141 d located above the first coupling slot 141 c, each of the second coupling protrusions 141 b comprises a second coupling slot 141 e and a second projection 141 f located beneath the second coupling slot 141 e. From mentioned descriptions, each of the first coupling slots 141 c and each of the second coupling slots 141 e are not situated in a same plane, each of the first projections 141 d and each of the second projections 141 f are not situated in a same plane as well. The staggered arrangement between each of the first coupling slots 141 c, each of the second coupling slots 141 e, each of the first projections 141 d and each of the second projections 141 f makes the first lodge portions 141 of the bearing 140 filled with the second lodge portions 151 a in the molding process of the hub 151, which enables the hub 151 to be fixedly coupled to the bearing 140. In this embodiment, the second lodge portions 151 a of the hub 151 include a plurality of connection protrusions 151 b, a plurality of first wadding portions 151 c in connection with the connection protrusions 15 lb and a plurality of second wadding portions 151 d in connection with the connection protrusions 151 b. With reference to FIG. 3, each of the separation slots 141 h is filled with each of the connection protrusions 151 b, and each of the first coupling slots 141 c is filled with each of the first wadding portions 151 c. With reference to FIG. 4, each of the second coupling slots 141 e is filled with each of the second wadding portions 151 d.

In addition, referring to FIGS. 3 and 5, the hub 151 comprises an upper surface 151 e, the bearing 140 comprises a top surface 145 coplanar with the upper surface 151 e of the hub 151, and each of the first coupling protrusions 141 a comprises an exposing surface 141 g coplanar with the upper surface 151 e. That is to say, the upper surface 151 e of the hub 151, the top surface 145 of the bearing 140 and the exposing surface 141 g of each of the first coupling protrusions 141 a are coplanar. Besides, referring to FIG. 5 again, the bearing 140 comprises a ring surface 146, wherein the first lodge portions 141 are protruded to the ring surface 146. The separation slots 141 h of the bearing 140, the first coupling protrusions 141 a and the second coupling protrusions 141 b are cladded by the hub 151 owning to the reason that the first lodge portions 141 of the bearing 140 are directly cladded with the second lodge portions 151 a of the hub 151 by injection molding. Therefore, the first lodge portions 141 of the bearing 140 are filled with the second lodge portions 151 a in the molding process of the hub 151, which makes the hub 151 fixedly coupled to the bearing 140. Accordingly, a conventional coupling means for compressing the bearing 140 against the hub 151 is no longer needed so as to prevent the axial hole 142 of the bearing 140 from deformation. This invention does not introduce mentioned coupling means to prevent the hub 151 from sliding relative to the bearing 140 or to prevent the bearing 140 from sliding relative to the hub 151 for achieving simplified manufacturing process. The weight of the bearing 140 is lighter than that of powder metallurgy bearing and metallic turning bearing for the reason that the bearing 140 is made of plastic therefore lowering the load of the impeller 150. Furthermore, the bearing 140 in this invention requires no lubricant so that a leakage problem for a conventional oil-contained bearing can be avoidable, which effectively increases lifetime of the fan structure 100. In operation of the impeller 150, the noise produced by the bearing 140 is lower than the noise produced by the ball race.

A second embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 6. A fan structure 100 includes a hollow body 110, a fixing pillar 120, a stator 130, a bearing 140, an impeller 150, a circuit board 160 and a carrier 170. The primary difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment is that the first lodge portions 141 of the bearing 140 can be a plurality of slots, the second lodge portions 151 a of the hub 151 can be a plurality of protrusions, wherein those slots are filled with the protrusions by means of injection molding.

While this invention has been particularly illustrated and described in detail with respect to the preferred embodiments thereof, it will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art that it is not limited to the specific features and describes and various modifications and changes in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A fan structure at least including: a preformed bearing having a plurality of first lodge portions and an axial hole; and an impeller having a hub and a plurality of blades in connection with the hub, wherein the hub comprises a plurality of second lodge portions, and the first lodge portions are cladded with the second lodge portions by means of injection molding.
 2. The fan structure in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first lodge portions include a plurality of first coupling protrusions and a plurality of second coupling protrusions, each of the first coupling protrusions and each of the second coupling protrusions are arranged alternately, each of the first coupling protrusions and each of the second coupling protrusions are spaced apart to form a separation slot.
 3. The fan structure in accordance with claim 2, wherein each of the first coupling protrusions comprises a first coupling slot, the second lodge portions include a plurality of connection protrusions and a plurality of first wadding portions in connection with the connection protrusions, each of the separation slots is filled with each of the connection protrusions, and each of the first coupling slots is filled with each of the first wadding portions.
 4. The fan structure in accordance with claim 3, wherein each of the first coupling protrusions further comprises a first projection located above the first coupling slot.
 5. The fan structure in accordance with claim 2, wherein each of the second coupling protrusions comprises a second coupling slot, the second lodge portions include a plurality of connection protrusions and a plurality of second wadding portions in connection with the connection protrusions, each of the separation slots is filled with each of the connection protrusions, and each of the second coupling slots is filled with each of the second wadding portions.
 6. The fan structure in accordance with claim 5, wherein each of the second coupling protrusions comprises a second projection located beneath the second coupling slot.
 7. The fan structure in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first lodge portions can be a plurality of slots, the second lodge portions can be a plurality of protrusions, and the slots are filled with the protrusions.
 8. The fan structure in accordance with claim 1, wherein the hub comprises an upper surface, and the bearing comprises a top surface coplanar with the upper surface of the hub.
 9. The fan structure in accordance with claim 2, wherein each of the first coupling protrusions comprises an exposing surface, and the hub comprises an upper surface coplanar with the exposing surface.
 10. The fan structure in accordance with claim 2, wherein the bearing comprises a ring surface, the first lodge portions are protruded to the ring surface.
 11. The fan structure in accordance with claim 1, wherein the bearing comprises a top terminal and a bottom terminal, the first lodge portions are adjacent to the top terminal.
 12. The fan structure in accordance with claim 11, wherein the bearing comprises a contact portion extendedly formed at the bottom terminal. 